Ghana: Tema fishmongers fight to restore tilapia appeal

Fresh tilapia sellers at the Tema Community One market have assured residents and their customers not to stop patronizing their fish as they will never sell contaminated fish.

They told the Ghana News Agency on Friday that patronage has dipped following the circulation of a video of large quantities of dead tilapia on a Chinese farm at Asutuary in the Shai-Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region .

The GNA observed that most tilapia sellers at the fish market at Tema Community One were idle while a few of them beckoned customers to buy.

Madam Ruby Ohui Agbenyegah, a tilapia seller, said they were yet to sell a single fish as at 12:30 hours compared to other Fridays when people mostly bought the fish for week-end dishes.

Madam Agbenyegah added that customers had refused to buy their fish because they had seen the video footage or heard of the poisoning of tilapia at fish farms at Asutuary.

She assured the public that they took their orders from Asikuma and Pakadam therefore their fish was not contaminated and indicated that fish that had died or contaminated could easily be identified by customers.

Madam Salomey Acquaye , another tilapia seller, also assured the public and called on the Food and Drugs Authority, Fisheries Commission and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture to immediately investigate the cause of the death of the fishes and deal with it to restore public trust.

Madam Acquaye however suggested that she believed some strange water or chemicals might have gotten into the habitat of the fish leading to the incident.

Madam Vida Aggrey, a customer, said even though she had wanted to enjoy the local delicacy, banku and tilapia, she was so confused and could not make up her mind on whether to buy even though the seller had assured her of the wholesomeness of the fish.